VOLUME5 The Complete C o l l e c t i o n $49.99 • www.idwpublishing.com ® IDW 1. EDITORS 2. DESIGNER Justin Eisinger & Alonzo Simon Shawn Lee Special thanks to Hasbro’s Mike Ballog, Ed Lane, Joe Furfaro, Heather Hopkins, and Michael Kelly for their invaluable assistance. ISBN: 978-1-61377-956-9 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 Ted Adams, CEO & Publisher Facebook: facebook.com/idwpublishing Greg Goldstein, President & COO Robbie Robbins, EVP/Sr. Graphic Artist Twitter: @idwpublishing Chris Ryall, Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief YouTube: youtube.com/idwpublishing Matthew Ruzicka, CPA, Chief Financial Officer Alan Payne, VP of Sales Instagram: instagram.com/idwpublishing Dirk Wood, VP of Marketing deviantART: idwpublishing.deviantart.com www.IDWPUBLISHING.com Lorelei Bunjes, VP of Digital Services IDW founded by Ted Adams, Alex Garner, Kris Oprisko, and Robbie Robbins Jeff Webber, VP of Digital Publishing & Business Development Pinterest: pinterest.com/idwpublishing/idw-staff-faves G.I. JOE: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION, VOLUME 5. MAY 2014. FIRST PRINTING. HASBRO and its logo, G.I. JOE, and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro and are used with permission. © 2014 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved. The IDW logo is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. IDW Publishing, a division of Idea and Design Works, LLC. Editorial offices: 5080 Santa Fe St., San Diego, CA 92109. Any similarities to persons living or dead are purely coincidental. With the exception of artwork used for review purposes, none of the contents of this publication may be reprinted without the permission of Idea and Design Works, LLC. Printed in Korea. IDW Publishing does not read or accept unsolicited submissions of ideas, stories, or artwork. Originally published by Marvel Comics as G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO issues #46–53, G.I. JOE: SPECIAL MISSIONS issues #1–2, and G.I. JOE YEARBOOK #2. TABLE OF CONTENTS PG. 4 INTRODUCTION Written by Mark W. Bellomo PG. 11 YEARBOOK #2, MARCH 1986: "TRIPLE PLAY" Written by Larry Hama - Art and Cover by Michael Golden PG. 46 ISSUE #46, APRIL 1986: "WHO'S WHO ON COBRA ISLAND" Written by Larry Hama - Pencils by Rod Whigham - Inks by Andy Mushynsky Colors by George Roussos - Letters by Joe Rosen - Edits by Dennis O'Neil - Cover by Mike Zeck PG. 71 ISSUE #47, MAY 1986: "SEA DUEL" Written by Larry Hama - Pencils by Rod Whigham - Inks by Andy Mushynsky Colors by George Roussos - Letters by Joe Rosen - Edits by Dennis O'Neil - Cover by Mike Zeck PG. 95 ISSUE #48, JUNE 1986: "SLAUGHTER" Written by Larry Hama - Pencils by Rod Whigham - Inks by Andy Mushynsky Colors by George Roussos - Letters by Joe Rosen - Edits by Bob Harras - Cover by Mike Zeck PG. 120 ISSUE #49, JULY 1986: "SERPENTOR" Written by Larry Hama - Pencils by Rod Whigham - Inks by Andy Mushynsky Colors by George Roussos - Letters by Joe Rosen - Edits by Bob Harras - Cover by Mike Zeck PG. 145 ISSUE #50, AUGUST 1986: "THE BATTLE OF SPRINGFIELD" Written by Larry Hama - Pencils by Rod Whigham - Inks by Andy Mushynsky Colors by George Roussos - Letters by Joe Rosen - Edits by Bob Harras Cover by Mike Zeck and John Beatty PG. 169 ISSUE #50, AUGUST 1986: "BEST DEFENSE" Written by Larry Hama - Art by Herb Trimpe - Colors by Bob Sharen - Letters by Phil Felix Edits by Don Daley and Bob Harras - Cover by Mike Zeck and John Beatty PG. 191 ISSUE #51, SEPTEMBER 1986: "THUNDER MACHINE" Written by Larry Hama - Pencils by Rod Whigham - Inks by Andy Mushynsky Colors by George Roussos - Letters by Joe Rosen - Edits by Bob Harras - Cover by John Byrne PG. 216 SPECIAL MISSIONS #1, OCTOBER 1986: "THAT SINKING FEELING" Written by Larry Hama - Art by Herb Trimpe - Colors by Bob Sharen - Letters by Phil Felix Edits by Don Daley and Bob Harras - Cover by Mike Zeck and John Beatty *The narrative in this issue of Special Missions took place not too long after G.I. Joe Yearbook #2: “Triple Play.” PG. 241 ISSUE #52, OCTOBER 1986: "SNAP DECISIONS" Written by Larry Hama - Pencils by Rod Whigham - Inks by Andy Mushynsky Colors by George Roussos - Letters by Joe Rosen - Edits by Bob Harras - Cover by Mike Zeck PG. 265 ISSUE #53, NOVEMBER 1986: "PIT-FALL" Written by Larry Hama - Pencils by Rod Whigham - Inks by Andy Mushynsky Colors by George Roussos - Letters by Joe Rosen - Edits by Bob Harras Cover by Mike Zeck and Josef Rubinstein PG. 289 SPECIAL MISSIONS #2, DECEMBER 1986: "WORDS OF HONOR" Written by Larry Hama - Art by Herb Trimpe - Colors by Bob Sharen - Letters by Phil Felix Edits by Bob Harras - Cover by Mike Zeck and Dennis Janke INTRODUCTION SAVE THIS FORM. IT WILL NOT BE REPLACED IF LOST. As an introverted, undersized adolescent dreamer with a voracious appetite for fantasy, science fiction, and military-themed toys and comic books, in the mid-1980s I was a passionate collector of all things G.I. Joe. Each day following my after school job, I arrived home to read issues of the Marvel Comic repeatedly—until the pages appeared dog-eared and their covers faded. Although I didn’t enjoy the Sunbow animated program nearly as much as the comic, I still managed to view my VHS-taped episodes of the cartoon until the tape warped from overuse. Most importantly, I collected all of the “clip and save” Combat Command File Card dossiers from the backs of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe action figure packages and took great pleasure in appreciating and understanding the intricate, nuanced facts contained therein—details about every gallant G.I. Joe team member and malevolent agent of Cobra Command. After cutting these chipboard file card biographies from their toy packages, I organized these dossiers together by year, with each series separated from the other with a different colored rubber band. I then gently placed all of the secured file cards I owned into one of my mother’s discarded metal recipe boxes. When the spirit moved me—and it did so a few times a week—I’d crack open the lid to the recipe box and carefully take out one series of file cards, remove the colored elastic surrounding the dossiers from that year (placing the band around my wrist so I wouldn’t lose it), and then I would devour the information: every bit of data and colorful anecdote these cards would provide. I memorized each character’s occupation/vocation, File Name (the character’s real name), Primary Military Specialty (“PMS”), Secondary Military Specialty (“SMS”), Birthplace, Grade (the soldier’s rank), background and military training (schooling, etc.), weapon proficiencies, and lengthy psychological profile or peer personality assessment: I remembered it all. Studying this bevy of information a few times each week would transport me into a fantastical fictional world; these cards helped to suspend my disbelief, triggered my imaginative drive, and afforded me the ability to fully invest in the larger narrative created by Mr. Hama within the pages of the Marvel Comic. I suppose my memorization of the information on a G.I. Joe file card was similar in fashion to how other kids might review and recall the statistics on a baseball card. Height. Weight. The side the player hits from. What team drafted said player. The number of games played. Number of at bats. Batting average. Et cetera. However, as a kid I never understood the hobby of collecting sports cards. They seemed a facile manner of transmitting a meaningless jumble of statistics that held no higher purpose: To what end did this serve? Idol worship? Most importantly, sports cards possessed no narrative; they didn’t convey meaning—they were a bloodless, two-dimensional conveyance of cold statistics and empirical facts. A G.I. Joe file card was different: these paper biographies, although brief, delivered dynamic heroes and villains to the reader as magnificently-rendered, three-dimensional characters that walked upright and spoke aloud. Due to the quality of Larry Hama’s writing on these Combat Command File Cards, I was heavily invested in these fictional characters; characters who became my friends. Additionally, often before Mr. Hama introduced a new character within the pages of the Marvel Comic (or before they ever premiered on the Sunbow cartoon), the author had first drafted these file cards for the character’s production as a Hasbro action figure, and so these compact dossiers frequently introduced— premiered, really—a new character to the national fan base. This first impression therefore, had to be a lasting one. And it often was. So then, whenever a new assortment of action figures hit the retail pegs of my local Ames department store (a discount chain located in the Northeast popular during the 1980s), I hopped onto my ten-speed and raced the three-and-a-half miles on a dangerous road and a dicey bridge or two to plunk my hard-earned cash down and snatch up the latest wave of fabulous Hasbro offerings. On one occasion—and I remember it well—I was confronted with a Footloose action figure hanging on my hometown Ames’ retail pegs, and I was thrilled: I had finally acquired a G.I. Joe team member that included: an M16 rifle with strap, another weapon in the form of a LAW rocket, a decent-looking field pack, and a uniquely-camouflaged helmet. Of course, I appreciated the character’s body construction as well: Ron Rudat (the Lead Designer of the G.I. Joe brand) and his team at Hasbro were peerless in their delivery of 3 ¾” military action figures. With fabulous poseability and dressed smartly in a set of fatigues that expertly captured a soldierly aesthetic (one that Rudat consistently conveyed throughout his tenure), I knew that this new Joe had the potential to be utterly spectacular.